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Possibly the most annoying thing I have heard as a singer is: "oh, you are so young for an opera singer...you will be great for this role in (2-5) years!"
The reality of the situation, though, is this description can be completely accurate and appropriate for every singer. Singing may be the only instrument that takes time to mature physically, and we have to have patience for our body to catch up with our ambitions. One of the biggest traps a voice teacher can fall into is demanding something from a student that they are not physically capable of at their age. An egregious example is giving an opera aria to a 16 year old, but other mistakes are made. Giving a soprano a song with nothing but high notes. Demanding that a young singer sing 'louder' than they are ready to sing. Asking a young tenor to sing most of a piece in his passaggio (future blog on that word in the future!). It is not that these singers will not be capable of very difficult technical feats, but that it takes time for their voice to mature so they can handle it without hurting their instrument. A good voice teacher will recognize where a singer's voice is developmentally, and develop a curriculum of songs to fit that singer at that stage of their life. DWS Picking the right music school requires a little more effort than applying to universities that have good academic reputations; you really need to invest the time and energy to look at the criteria listed below (most important to least important).
1) Voice Teacher: This is the MOST important criteria. Your voice teacher will be the most responsible for crafting you into a legitimate professional singer. If at all possible, you should interview and take a lesson with several professors of different schools to determine which voice teacher is best for you. 2) Money/Financial Aid: If a music school wants you, they will offer considerable aid. PERIOD. If they do not offer you any financial assistance, then they are planning to make a lot of money off your tuition, and will likely not cast you in prominent roles and help you with furthering your career. You also need to graduate with as LITTLE DEBT as possible. Music is not a career in which you can expect to make a lot, or even decent, income at first. It is almost impossible to get a music career off the ground if you have substantial college loans, because you still need to spend lots of money after school for auditions, additional training, marketing etc... 3) Caliber of School Productions: You want to go to a school that offers a lot of high-level productions, as most of the music and acting crafts are learned by doing. If possible, sit in on a rehearsal or actual show. Meet the acting/directing professors. Go to a school where you KNOW you will be cast. 4) Reputation of School: While not nearly as important compared to law schools, the fact is that attending a school with a sterling reputation will open some initial doors to auditions otherwise closed. While attending Julliard will not get you hired, it will probably allow you to score a few auditions other young professionals cannot get due to their lack of experience. 5) City the School is Based in: While you will do most of your work with the school, it helps to have a very active theater community surrounding the school. That's why schools on the East Coast are so popular; you can start building professional contacts before you even leave school. DWS There is a lot of confusion about what song to sing for an audition; and it boils to down to a few factors:
1) What type of audition - are you auditioning for a professional opera/musical theater gig, college music major auditions, church position, or concert? Each of these auditions has widely different criteria on what songs are appropriate for those auditions. In addition, each type of audition puts more emphasis on different factors. For instance, a theater job will care more about your acting, whereas a straight concert gig only cares how you sing. 2) Sing your best piece FIRST - Once you determine the type of audition, you should ALMOST ALWAYS sing your best song/aria first. There are no guarantees you will get to sing more than a minute or two. Make the best possible first impression. Those first fifteen seconds often determine whether you get the job or not. 3) Create a diverse package for each type of audition - For each type of audition, you need 5-8 selections you can draw upon for an audition. While you use your BEST song first, the rest of the pieces need to be diverse in terms of tempo, acting, musical challenges, and time period in order to show the panel your breadth of talent. There is an exception to this rule: if you don't do something well, don't put it on the list. Judges seem to be very tuned into Murphy's Law - if they can pick the bad piece, they will! 4) Know any specific requirements/repertoire this company typically sings - Just like any job interview, you need to investigate the company you are auditioning for. Do they typically program a season of Mozart, Sondheim, modern English composers etc...? This is the one exception to rule #2. You need to sing a song that the company might actually want you to sing on their stage. If you sing Mozart's "Hai gia vinta la causa," but the company does not perform Mozart, you are wasting valuable time to introduce yourself as the right candidate for the job. In many ways, auditioning is exactly like a job interview: Prepare, Put yourself in the best light possible, and know the company you are working for. DWS For the vast majority of college auditions, judges are not expecting a "finished product." Otherwise, why would you need to spend four years of your life studying music? However, there are several areas college professors look for in selecting their next class of musicians:
1) Talent/Voice Quality - Within fifteen seconds, (perhaps less!), music judges know if your voice has the talent level and/or vocal training to compete on a collegiate level. This is why it is absolutely CRITICAL to perform your favorite, best song right away and start strong. First impressions matter a lot in music. To get into the Yes/Probably Pile, you need to impress the judges with your voice right away, so they can consider other aspects of your musicianship. 2) Attention to Detail/Musicality - While talent is nice, judges want to know that you have more than a pretty voice. They want to know you deliver engaging performances, with lots of changes in dynamic levels, stylistic ideas etc... 3) Musical Accuracy/Diction - Unlike the High school Region/State auditions, I find most college professors are willing to forgive mistakes (missed entrances, rhythms, pitches) or subpar foreign languages because they understand that not every singer can afford weekly voice lessons or have an excellent choir teacher in high school. Colleges also know that they can train these skills. While this does not give a student a free pass to make major mistakes, a missed rhythm or pitch due to nerves is not a deal-breaker. 4) Intangibles/Related Skills/GRADES - Believe it or not, college professors DO CARE about your high school grades, even if you are a SPECTACULAR singer. Good grades demonstrate a healthy work ethic, which is essential to make a living in the highly competitive market for singers. The stereotype of the clueless, dumb singer is outdated. Most successful singers are very intelligent, motivated individuals. 5) Voice Type - Depending on what previous freshmen classes were composed of, certain voice types may be more needed then others. This does not always mean tenors are in demand, which is a common misconception due to the lack of tenors at the high school level. At my graduate school, they actually had PLENTY of good tenors, and were looking for lower voices. However, if you are a soprano, you should expect competition to be fierce for every spot. DWS |
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